NSAC E-Bulletin

Please forward your submissions to the NSAC E-Bulletin to the newsdesk at (news@nsac.ca). for inclusion in the next edition, which run on Monday and Thursday of each week. Remember you can post notices anytime on the NSAC Forums at http://nsac.ca/forums

Library Review

The NSAC Library will be undergoing a review process on Thursday June 7th and Friday, June 8th. The two external reviewers, Mr. Richard Ellis, Queen Elizabeth II Library, St. John's and Ms. Sara Lochhead, Vaughan Memorial Library, Wolfville, will be meeting with faculty, staff and students during this time frame.

We are asking for your support in this process by attending the open session for faculty and staff on Thursday, June 7th from 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm at the Library. Please note this time in your schedules. We hope you can attend.

The input of the members of Faculty Council and other academic and research staff will help to ensure that the Library evolves as it should in line with other universities in Canada and Atlantic Canada, in supporting their priorities for learning, teaching and research. Any criticisms, compliments, suggestions or comments would be very much appreciated.

This is an NSAC Review (not an internal library review) and so is intended to evaluate our progress and evolution in relation to NSAC's curriculum, programs and research agendas, and to provide guidance for the next several years.

Bioscience Networking Session

You are invited to attend the next Bioscience Networking Session which will take place on Thursday, June 14, 2007 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm at the National Research Council - Institute for Nutrisciences and Health in the lecture theatre on the first floor at the UPEI campus.

Please join us for Dr. Jerzy Zawistowski, Vice President of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. His topic for discussion will be, "Functional Foods Landmark: Phytosterols and coronary heart diseases".

Please see the invitation for full details.

Space is limited. RSVP by Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 to myself at jtadams@gov.pe.ca or at 569-7584.

Sincerely,

Joan Turner Adams

CIHR Café Scientifique

Are cities a health hazard? To find out, you can participate in a free discussion with Canada's experts on June 18th in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Please see the poster for more details and to RSVP.

Conferences on Campus

NSAC conference season typically runs from the first of May to the end of August. However, this year we will be closing for the month of August to do some much needed upgrades to the residence complex.

NSAC annually hosts the Rug Hookers School, 4H Weekend, Atlantic Seminar in Theology, The Royal Canadian Leadership Camp, EBI Conference and the Atlantic Fellowship Conference. The dates for these conferences are reserved annually and we are pleased to book other groups in around these clients.

The largest group of the 2007 season was the Canada Wide science Fair. Conference Services had worked with the organizing committee for the past four years to bring this event to NSAC and are pleased to announce that the event was a great success with students and adults enjoying a full week of activities.

Other groups for this season include: Child and Youth Care workers, Area 82 NS Service Weekend, Royal Bank, Youth Corp., Heartland Tours and several small groups. The International Department will host visitors from Ethiopia and Cambodia this summer and these guests will be housed in our Trueman House guest rooms.

In total, NSAC Conference Services will bring 1850 conference clients to campus and an additional 150 as drop-in overnight guests. The majority of these guests will spend several nights at NSAC and will have time to enjoy our beautiful campus and gardens, food service, athletic centre and best of all, NSAC hospitality.

Kids Discovery Camps

The staff of Scotia Pool and NSAC are excited to again offer our Kids Discovery Camps.
Have fun as you play, swim and learn. The seven week long day camps commence on July 3, 2007. Spaces are now limited so don't delay. There are different themes to be enjoyed each week. Every afternoon includes swim time at Scotia Pool. For information and registration call 893-6364 or visit the website at www.nsac.ca/athletics/pool.asp.

Ability Management Workshops

To all employees,

Last Fall you were invited to attend one of 18 Ability Management Workshops held across the province between November 1, 2006 and January 15, 2007. The suggestion arising from the workshop feedback was to make the sessions mandatory for managers who will be responsible for managing the process. Your senior management team have agreed that it will be mandatory for management employees to attend the Ability Case Management Workshops. As well, all employees who haven’t already attended a workshop, are encouraged to do so, so that you have the
information you need on accessing processes and procedures for Short Term Illness, Long Term Illness and Workers’ Compensation Board Injuries and Illnesses.

The sessions for Managers will be morning sessions, from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm and the employee sessions will be from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

The Resources Corporate Services Unit and senior management of this department supports the concept of Ability Management Workplace Accommodation. Ability Management is based on an early return to work relative to the employee’s functional abilities and involves working with employees who become ill or injured, their representatives and service providers to facilitate recovery and restoration to full potential as quickly as possible.

All illness and injuries, resulting in absences from work, will be managed with a focus on early return to work for employees. This simply means helping employees to get back to the workplace as soon as possible by adjusting their assigned duties to match their functional ability. This may include transitional work (modified/alternate duties or hours), whenever operational requirements permit. Often this approach has proven
to facilitate the healing process. Modified duties would allow the employee to return to work on a full-time basis, and be 100 percent productive at selected activities directly associated with their position. Modified hours would allow the recovering employee to
gradually increase his/her hours of attendance over a specified time frame until they progress to a full time basis.

A number of training sessions have been scheduled around the province:

Managers and employees - Truro, June 12, 9 am - 12 pm and 1 pm - 3 pm

Managers and employees - Bridgewater, June 13, 9 am - 12 pm and 1 pm - 3 pm

Managers and employees - Port Hawksbury, June 20, 9 am - 12 pm and 1 pm - 3 pm

To register, please go to https://learnnet.gov.ns.ca/. If you experience any problems with your registration, please contact Angela Ament at 424-5612.

Friends of the Garden Plant Sale

There will be a Friends of the Garden Plant Sale on Saturday, June 9th from 9 am - 12 pm at the Grounds Maintenance entrance of the Collins Building.

Recruitment Update

Hello from Recruitment,

A special thanks to Jean and Shannon for touring and providing great activities for the Trenton Middle School grade 8 Agrifoods class. In addition, Ag Zone was a huge success as the campus hosted over 700 students last week.

As part of my routine, I check our website regularly and have found a few glitches on several pages. Please try to take the time to update your information (departments), pictures and look for errors - it sure does help Mike and I.

I'm also scheduling strategy meetings for those departments who want to explore new and creative ways of promoting your programs. This week, I've spoken to Engineering and am quite happy with the results. Engineering's new signage and messaging is a benchmark for other departments. Thanks to Peter and staff for your efforts! In addition, Plant Science has created new signage that can be used at shows and educational venues - great job! I look forward to meeting with Environmental Horticulture this week and hopefully others in the near future.

Until next time,

Monica

New Member of the Truro Financial Services Team

Please welcome Stephanie MacKenzie to the Truro Financial Services Team, as Budget & Special Projects Officer, effective as of June 4, 2007.

In the future, should you have budget or financial reporting issues, please add Stephanie as another contact person in Financial Services.

Congratulations to Heather Rogers and James Dawson!

The Research and Graduate Studies Office extends congratulations to Heather Rogers (RGS Research & Development Coordinator) and James Dawson on their recent marriage. Heather and James were married on May 26, 2007 in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.

Please be advised that Heather Dawson can now be reached at hdawson@nsac.ca.

Best wishes to Heather and James!

Sincerely,

Rob and Jill

NSAC Professors and Students Receive Awards from the NSERC

Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) is pleased to announce that several researchers and students were recipients of various awards from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Grants and Scholarships competition. Overall, seven researchers and students were successful in the competition.

“NSAC continues to excel in competitive processes that fund research excellence at the national level,” said NSAC President Dr. T. Philip Hicks. “We are very proud of our success in this arena.” more...